Sausage & Bean Hotpot

This is serious comfort food. Passata works best here, but 2 cans of tomatoes and some tomato purée would work just as well. You can also substitute the harissa with 1/2 tsp chilli flakes or a fresh red chilli, finely chopped. You can also use whatever beans you like, as long as they’re robust.

Ingredients

8-10 good quality butchers sausages

1 medium courgette, diced

2 sticks celery, finely chopped

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 400g cans flageolet beans

1 400g can butter beans

800g jar tomato passata

2 tbsp grain mustard

1 tsp English mustard powder

½ tsp fennel seeds, crushed

dash of worcestershire sauce

2 tsp harissa (or 1 tsp chilli flakes)

4 tomatoes, halved

flat-leaf parsley

Method

Preheat the oven to 230°C.

Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a fry pan. Gently fry the sausages until golden, but not too dark.

In the residual oil, fry the courgette, celery onion and garlic. You need to get plenty of colour on the vegetables.

Rinse and drain the beans and add to a large casserole. Add the fried vegetables, sausages and the rest of the ingredients, apart from the parsley. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Mix gently and tuck the sausages into the casserole. I like to cut the sausages in half before adding, especially if they’re large.

Cook in the oven for 35 minutes until the top is browned. Stir through a handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley and serve with some crusty bread for mopping up sauce.